This
Tuesday marked the 240th anniversary of the passing of the Halifax Resolves in
my home state of North Carolina. The resolution, passed by the Fourth
Provincial Congress of North Carolina, was the first from all of the colonies
to call for independence from Britain. The passing of the resolves is credited
with paving the way for the Declaration of Independence to be presented to the
Second Continental Congress just three months later.
The
Fourth Provincial Congress was made up of 83 delegates who met in the town of
Halifax. The group passed the resolution unanimously giving North Carolina’s
three delegates to the Second Continental Congress the authority to vote in
favor of independence.
The
same congressional session also authorized the issuance of one of the most
popular series in all of colonial currency, the April 2, 1776 issue of North
Carolina colonials. The legislation for the series called for $1,250,000 in
notes to be issued and was passed on April 22, 1776. The April 2, 1776 date was
placed on the notes because that is the date that the congressional session
began. There are 56 different varieties in the series making it the largest in
all of colonial currency. There are various mottoes and vignettes throughout
the series with many popular themes seen. The denominations of the issue range
from $1/16 to $20.
The
notes imaged above are from some of our past auctions and feature a NC-155g
$1/4 note featuring the vignette of a barracuda and a NC-158a $2 note featuring
the vignette of a deer. All notes in the series mention that they are issued by
authority of Congress at Halifax, April 2, 1776.
While
Halifax was a significant town in colonial North Carolina and holds an
important place in American history, today it is a tiny town that reported a
population of just 234 in the 2010 census.
